Blade sharpener



B. L. BENSON BLADE .SHARPENER July 4, 1933.

Filed May 6, 1931 Patented July 4, 1933 umre STATES BURT L. BENSON, or WHEATON; JiLLINOIS IBLAIDE 'SHARPENER' I Application filedMaY 6,1931, Serial Ni. 535,4732 Y My invention relates to means for sharpening blades or sharp-edge tools, namely means wherein contact with the immediate edge of the blade is prevented, while on' the other handa smooth rubbing contact with the sides of the blade immediately adjacent the out ting edge is provided. i V

My invention has for it's 'ob ect the provision of sharpening means provided with 10 smooth, imiform, curved surfaces adapted to'sinooth down or burnish the fibre or molecules of tie metal blade and to at the same time re-align any minutely displaced portions of the cutting edge so as to restore the same substantially to theoriginal relation.

I" am aware that bladesharpeningdevices have been produced comprisingapair of op:

posing-metal portions arranged in contacting 9O relations and adapted to be drawn or have the blade drawn lengthwisetherebetween.

Such devices, however, have been so constructed that the immediate edge of the blade Would'come into contact'with the metal portions or surfaces witht'he-resultthat the cut;-

ting edge wasdulled or ruined. There are also devices wherein the adjacentlyplaced portions of the dev ces were provided wlth angularor sharp edges whichiwere' ntended to abrade theoblade, thereby wearing away- 30 the tapercd edg e'of the blade, While at the time permitting the immediate or cutting edge of the blade to contact therewith Such devices, however, are very obj ectionahhecause they result in an'abrasi'on and wearing away of the blade, without" producing the desiredrsharp'ening efi'ect,

. A150,: am aware'that there have been devices constructed involving'movable portions or rotating-surfaces whose function is merely to roll down or press into alignment the minute displaced portions of the blade edge, but such devices do not burnish the immediate blade-edge while at the same time re-align- 45 ing the molecules of the blade-edge. f

'Myimproved'means are devised to overcome these'ser-ious objectionsand to accomplisha. better sharpening-of blades and-.par-

ticularlythe. rather: delicate or thin safety razor blades at present in use. i The'objects and advantages of ,my mvenvision of opposingly disposed smooth arcu- I m y th n m hee o safety lr'type of blade; 7

portion 10, incapable of being flexedby presorder that it may be easily held between" the tion Wm'be readily l ehendedfrom the following description of the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is aperspective view -ofone form I of my invention with a safety razor blade shown in fulllines. g I Y i Figure Qis a longitudinal'i sectional view of the device shown in Figure l.

Figure 3 isa perspective .vilw of a modifiedform." l Q 3 Figure 4 is a perspective View of another modification of the invention.

- Figure 5. is a' sectional view of end of the for'mshown in F igure'et'.

Figureh is a perspective view'of another modified form ofthe invention.

Zbladeby abrasion, wearing away orv removing 0 portions of the blade'in an attempt'to provide a" practically new; cutting'edge, Such devices, as V is apparent, arevery obj ectionable and impracticable, particularly so with In theeXem lification of my iin ventidn as l H disclosed in Figures 1 and 2, the sharpener comprises a-so1newhat Ueshaperigid body p at' 0 a V,

, The'form of thedev-i'ce shown in' Fi ure -1' sure normally encountered in the sharpening ,1

and 2isj a" very simple embodiment which may'be'readily'carried in" a pocket, and in thumb and: forefinger. of the user, the body plortionrlO is shown of, comparative width, with the ends dished or cupped; on the outer sides to provide the'fingerreceiving sockets m0 In providing the finger sockets, the ends of the body portion are dished or concaved inwardly toward each other to provide the substantially semi-spherical portions 12, 12, preferably formed with uniform and smooth opposing surfaces.

The'semi-spherical surfaces 12 are formed I and arranged in slight spaced relation at the opposing apices of the arcuate surfaces so as to permit the immediate cutting edge of a blade, as shown at A, to fit therebetween. These arcuate, surfaces 12 are, however, so closely arranged as not to permit the body of the blade just beyond the immediate edge "to-pass therebetween.

The arcuate or semi-spherical portions 12, 12 are formed of a suitable hard steel or other suitable material and provided with smooth Figure. 2, the immediate cutting edge is disposed between the arcuate surfaces 12, 12

without contacting therewith, whilethe sides of the blade at the cutting edge are in contact with both. arcuate surfaces. It is apparent that relative movement between the blade and the device, in directions lengthwise of the blade, will-'cause'a realignment of the .minute'metal portions and compression of V the molecules of the blade edge, and hence properly burnish the opposite sides immediately adjacent to the cutting edge.

:The repeated moveme'nt of the device, lengthwise of the blade (or by moving the blade back and forth intermediate of the archowever, is the case with devices as heretofore constructed.

In Figure 3, I showa modification of my invention involving a hand grasping portion or shank 13 provided atthe upper end with the somewhat V-shaped blade sharpening portion 14 consisting of the cylindricalbifurcations 15, 15. Although'these bifurcations are shown cylindrical, it is merely'essential that the opposing sides adjacent the crotch portion, namely at the points indicated at 16, be uniformly curved or made arcuate to engage theopposite'sides adjacent to the cutting edge of the blade. The crotch portion is socketed, namely with the portions receding from each other, as at 17 in order to provide a space to receive the immediate edge of the blade. These surfaces 1t 16, hire the surfaces 12, 12, are spaced apart ust Sllfllcient to receive the edge of the blade therebetween without, however, permitting the blade proper to slip or pass entirely down into the socket 17 Like in the form shown in Figure 1,the

blade to be sharpened is preferably held slightly at an angle to the vertical or longitudinal axis of thedevice so that both surfaces of the blade at the cutting ec ge will bear against the arcuate surfaces '16, 16, and cause a burnishing of theside surfaces of the cutting edge. The burnishing portion 14 of the device is, of course, made from a suitable hard metal or material having smooth polished surfaces;

In Figures 4 and 5 T disclose another modification of the invention involving a handle portion 18 provided with a threaded shank 19 adapted to screw into a threaded socket in the burnishing or blade sharpening headportion 20. The portion 20 at its upper end isprovided with the bifurcati'o'nsor spaced legs 21, 21, arranged to extend substantially parallel with each other; and the opposing faces adjacent theupper ends are each socketed to receive a hard, polished spherical member or ball 22, preferably immovably mounted in the socket. These spherical members 22 may be of suitable glass or hardened polished steel; and are arranged to pro vide a small space therebetween as more clearly shown in Figure 5, to receive the cutting edge of the blade therebetween; The spacing between the spherical members is preferably such that the main body of the blade will not pass downwardly therebetween; but even if the blade should happen to be of a thinness less than the spacing, contactwith the cutting edge cannotbe effected because .of the enlarged spacing or socket between the base of the bifurcations asshown at 23.

If desired, the type of sharpener shown in Figure 3 may have the upper. or head the razor handle may be used andthe sharpening heads14, or 20, screwed thereon, thus enabling the sharpening deviceto be of comparatively small dimensions enabling it to .be readily carried in the shaving kit if desired.

In using the construction shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5, the blade, like in the previously describedconstruction, is preferably held at a slight angle to the vertical axes of the devices so as to ensure a firm bearing of the sidefaces of the cutting edge against the portion 14 socketed and reinovably secured to the handle 13 like the construction shown material formed with smooth, uniform surfaces. The arrangement of theprongs and the size of the spherical members 26- 'which are of equal size or diameter are the triangular manner shown and of uniform spacing, and the upper ends of each prong 25 provided with a spherical member 26; 7 These spherical members 26 1nay bemade integral with the prongs or removably secured thereto so as, to beheld firmly against rotation during the sharpening operation and these members 26 may either be of hard polished metal, glass, stone, or other suitable such that small spaces between the opposing sides of the spherical members are provided to receive the cutting edge of the blade; the

spacings, however, being such as toprevent the blade from passing down entirely beimmediately adjacent to the cutting edge tween the spherical members As is apparent, the cutting edge of a blade will be disposed slightly beneath the apices of the opposing arcuate surfaces; while on the other hand the apices of these surfaces will come in contact with the side faces of the blade and as a result burnish and smooth down the side faces of the cutting edge. 7 WVith the construction shown in Figures 6 and 7, the blade may be drawn through the fine or narrow passage between the three members 26, thus having two spherical mem bers 26 disposed on one side, of the blade and the third member disposed on the opposite side of the blade; the blade being drawn in a straight line between the spherical memhere. On the other hand, the blade may be drawn between any two of the spherical members by tilting the device into horizontal position and then drawing the blade in a general direction lengthwise of the device, and at a slight angle to the longitudinal axis of the device in the manner stated in connection with the forms heretofore described;

This lattermethod is possible without con-. v

tactingwith the immediate cutting edge of the blade because the supporting prongs 25 are arranged to leave suflicient space between the respective prongs as shown in Figure 7.

I am aware that sharpening devices have been proposed depending upon abrasion or wearing away of the material, as well as a type i having curved intersecting elements wherebycontact with the immediate cutting edge of a bladeis obtained, and therefore devices which will destroy the fine edges of safety razor blades or other thin and keen edgedtools; but none of these devices'are adapted to the principle of 5 sharpening through the burnishing of theside faces of the immediate cutting edge as involved in the different embodiments of my invention shown and described.

WVhat I claim is:

A sharpening device comprising'a holding portion and a blade-edge receiving portion composed of uniform elements of hard material provided with opposing arcuate surfaces of similar convexity with the horizontal radii of theelements arranged in the same plane in close spaced relation to constitute .the blade-edge receiving space therebetween so that said surfaces will contact with the side faces of the blade cutting edge, said surfaces being immovable and receding from each other immediately beneath the bladeedge side face contacting surfaces.

URT BENSON." 

